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Fresh Insights on Social Casino Gamers: Slots are Most Popular and Convert Best

Global games market intelligence firm Newzoo conducted a new round of its annual Social Casino Consumer Insights research in August and made the data available to clients this week. These Social Casino Consumer Insights allows subscribers to track the demographics, preferences, playing behavior, and spending habits of the social casino audience aged 18-70 across three countries: the U.S., U.K., and Australia. Across these countries, 37% of PC and mobile players play social casino games, such as slots, poker, bingo, blackjack, roulette, and baccarat. Individuals aged 36-70 account for 60% of the social casino audience, and the genre is most popular in the U.S. where 39% of mobile and PC gamers play it.

Using this latest research, we explored the most popular types of social casino games and franchises, along with payment habits, and the correlation with real-money gambling behavior.

SLOTS IS FAVORITE SOCIAL CASINO TYPE OVERALL

Based on an aggregate of players across the U.S., U.K., and Australia, slots emerge as the most popular type of social casino game, played by 53% of social casino players. Looking at a country level, bingo is the most popular in the U.K. with 55% of social casino gamers playing online bingo games and 26% indicating it is their favorite type – 10% more than in either the U.S. or Australia. While slots are the most popular type of social casino game among players, social casino payers demonstrate a preference for poker games. Of those who spend money on social casino games, 55% play poker-style games. Poker is much popular in Australia than either the U.S. or the U.K. with 26% of its social casino gamers listing it as their favorite.

U.K. HAS THE LARGEST SHARE OF PAYING SOCIAL CASINO GAMERS

Of those who play social casino games, 45% have spent money on the genre in the past six months. Of these payers, 11% can be classified as big spenders, meaning that they spend more than $25 a month. The U.K. is home to the largest share of payers, with 58%. Interestingly, 7% of social casino payers in the U.K. reported using crypto-currencies, such as Bitcoin, as a payment method. This is higher than in the U.S. and Australia, where adoption of this new currency remains low. Among all payers, the most common reason to spend money on social casino games is to keep playing when they run out of coins.

Quite expectedly, a strong correlation emerges between those who play social casino games and those who have participated in gambling for real money. For example, 58% of social casino players have gambled for real money. This is compared to 23% of gamers who don’t play social casino games. Those who spend money on social casino games are even more likely to part-take in real-money gambling, with 81% having done so in the last 6 months. Likely as a result of the more relaxed regulations in regard to online real-money gambling in the U.K., the share of social casino players who gamble for real-money at online casinos within the U.K. is higher than in either the U.S. or Australia.